On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Alex Wagner Tonight,” Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) stated that Republicans are “trying to weaponize antisemitism” by bringing bills that divide Democrats on the subject, like the Antisemitism Awareness Act, up for a vote. And that if we wanted to fight antisemitism “we would bring a bipartisan bill and we would have a whole of government approach that involves educating people about what antisemitism is and what it isn’t and making sure that we are all speaking with one voice.”
Host Alex Wagner asked, “Do you have sort of a thesis as to why the scope was so large?”
Jayapal responded, “Yeah, Alex, I do, and that is that, unfortunately, I think Republicans are trying to weaponize antisemitism. They want to bring bills to the floor that actually divide Democrats, and what we really need to do, if we want to tackle antisemitism, which I believe every Democrat does want to do and many Republicans, then we would do a — we would bring a bipartisan bill and we would have a whole of government approach that involves educating people about what antisemitism is and what it isn’t and making sure that we are all speaking with one voice. I think it’s incredibly hurtful to the cause of eliminating antisemitism for Republicans to weaponize it and to be hypocrites about bringing forward something that is for pure political gain, not about fighting antisemitism. So, that’s why I think they brought this bill, because they knew that it would not get full Democratic support, because it doesn’t get full support from the Jewish community. It doesn’t get full support from people who have looked at this issue and said we have to be very careful about how we define this, and especially, by the way, this is being targeted and tied to educational funds that go to colleges. So, it has incredibly important ramifications.”
The bill passed the House 320-91 with 133 Democrats voting in favor of the bill along with 187 Republicans. The bill had 15 Democrats co-sponsoring it, along with 46 Republicans.
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
